Kumbharli Ghat - A 1000 kms Monsoon Drive

This is a discussion on Kumbharli Ghat - A 1000 kms Monsoon Drive within Travelogues, part of the Buckle Up category; 29-30th June 2016 - Went to Ratnagiri to pick up my parents.
Instead of the regular NH17 375KM route, took ...

Started at 2:15AM, so as to do the Kumbharli ghat early in the morning and reach home in time. Expressway and NH4 after that till Umbraj was smooth travel. Took right for Chiplun just after 6am.

6:20AM : Once on the Umbraj-Patan-Chiplun road, the traffic became really sparse. Except locals nobody really uses this road as a connection between NH4 and NH17. I pulled over for a fresh-air break.

A light drizzle made the roads wet and I was tempted to pull over again after 15 mins.

Passed the sleepy town - Patan without slowing down much. I was on the road for more than 4 hours now. Although I knew that it was near impossible to get anything to eat on this route so early, I was keen to have a cup of tea at least. Passed a few shady tea-stalls and stayed on the road to try my luck further down the road.

Finally, after crossing a bridge on the Koyna, suddenly came across a small hotel which looked decent. Although this was on the right side, I stopped right in front, lowered the window glass and asked if I would get tea. The chap - apparently the owner - smiled and said -Yes. While waiting for the tea, I casually asked him if he has anything ready for breakfast. He surprised me by replying "Misal". In next 15 minutes, I devoured unarguably one of the better misals I had in recent time and washed it down with a nice cup of tea. I asked the owner, how far is the Koyna dam and he said, the right turn is just 100 meters ahead. Its 2-3kms from there. Then I realized that this junction is a favourite stop for the trucks on this route and that's why there are 2 good dhabas here. I also checked about the road-conditions in the Kumbharli ghat and was told that its in good condition.

Took the right and the road started climbing. Stopped a little bit ahead when I saw this scene on the right.

A light drizzle did a good job of hiding all the dirt on the car from last 300 odd kms.

Nice green tree cover on both sides.

I kept looking out for the Koyna dam and suddenly I got a glimpse of it through the trees on the right.

Climbed even further and reached the garden gate. One can buy a ticket and explore the garden. One can also get to see the other side of the dam from the garden. It opens at 9am. I checked my watch. 7:30AM. May be next time.

Enjoying the Kumbharli ghat and clicking memories was important. But reaching Ratnagiri on time was also important. So got back on the main road soon and kept a good pace.

Just before 8am, the Kumbharli ghat started.

It was a little foggy and there was very very light drizzle. Next one hour or so, I lost count of how many times I stopped. Every corner was a window into some mesmerizing green scenery.

Clouds floating low.

No destruction caused by humans for miles together.

Multiple shades of greens everywhere.

A waterfall peeked through the cloud cover.

I encountered just 10 odd trucks and even lesser number of cars. So lots of opportunity for Duma to pose.

Its interesting to note that when you take the Kumbharli ghat from Pune/Satara side, its all downhill.

Is that a road or a river snaking through the valley?

Small floating cloud... right ahead!

After crossing the Kumbharli ghat, started seeing some signs of human civilization.

I joined NH17 at Chiplun at 9am. This is about the same time I reach Chiplun when I take NH17 all the way. So my calculation of starting 2 hours early for Kumbharli route had worked out pretty nicely.

I was in familiar territory now. Just because its familiar does not mean, its not beautiful. In fact, the NH17 stretch between Chiplun to Sangameshwar and then onwards till Hathkhamba is one of my favourite stretches all through the year.

This river gives company on the right for a long time, but the water level that I remembered was always quite a few feet below what I saw this time. The Konkan region has been lashed by heavy rains in last week or so and it was very evident.

Cattle in lush green.

Rice farming

More curves ahead.

Found a nice spot for photoshoot and parked on the wrong side (off the road). Just when I had reached this vantage point, a small rickshaw-tempo guy pulled over ...bang in the frame ...apparently for a su-su break. Had to clone-stamp him and the tempo out of the pic.

The huge tree, the rock and the curving clean black road. The setting could not have been better.

After Sangameshwar, I was climbing up again and saw this on the left. Countless shades of green and brown !

The Nivali waterfall a bit before Hathkhamba. Not in its full glory, but still soothing and beautiful.

Usual photo-op at the Gaonkhadi beach.

Reached home around 12:30pm after a tea-break at Pawas. The trip meter showed 510kms instead of the usual 375.
10 hours on the road, 2 more than usual. Not a bad deal at all given the beautiful monsoon scenes I witnessed !

The last 2 snaps are from the return journey, when we (me + parents) stopped at the Koyna dam garden and got to see the other side.

Hardly any visitors. A red car tends to hide dirt much better in monsoon. Just look at the white Innova for comparison.

Climbing the Kumbharli ghat from the other direction was also fun, but being on the hill-side, it robs you of the valley view from the driver's seat. Also it was raining pretty heavily when we passed, so didn't stop much in the Kumbharli ghat during the return journey.

So overall 1020kms in less than 48 hours and a good monsoon drive! Thoroughly enjoyed!

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The last 2 snaps are from the return journey, when we stopped at the garden at Koyna dam and got to see the other side.

Wonderful picturelogue SDP. The lush greenery all around is so soothing to the eyes. Good to see cattle grazing the fresh grass, rice plantations going on in full swing. Also I am amazed to see the near perfect road condition in the ghat. Here in Pune just after the first showers roads have become non-existent.

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Hardly any visitors. A red car tends to hide dirt much better in monsoon.

I agree, darker shades are a boon in the rainy season. All my cars till date have been dark shade & I never bothered to clean my cars so frequently in the rainy season for the simple reason that they didn't look that much dirty

The sight of black empty road sorrounded with fluorescent green all around simply is irresistible. The environment is pristine and seems unscathed by the waves of artificialization. How are fuelling options in these areas; would it be possible to locate a fuel station at say every 50 Kms or so?

The majestic XUV 5oo at the road cornering the coastline is simply surreal.

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Lovely pics and narration! Is the road through Patan town now wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass comfortably, specially through the market area?

If you haven't already, do try the Amba ghat - that's quite an eyeful too - next time you travel to Ratnagiri in the rains. That way, you'll also get a chance to see the Marleshwar waterfall in its full glory by taking a small detour!

Lovely pics and narration! Is the road through Patan town now wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass comfortably, specially through the market area?
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Yes, its fairly wide now, but general lack of discipline and haphazardly parked vehicles in the market area does slow you down considerably during the day. Early morning, I breezed through without really slowing down.

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If you haven't already, do try the Amba ghat - that's quite an eyeful too - next time you travel to Ratnagiri in the rains. That way, you'll also get a chance to see the Marleshwar waterfall in its full glory by taking a small detour!

Ummm.... IIRC Marleshwar is off NH17, around Sangameshwar which is north of Hathkhamba and not on the Amba ghat route. For Amba ghat route I connect from Pawas to Lanja (which is south of Hathkhamba on NH17) and then climb up to Malkapur/Kolhapur/Karad through the Amba ghat.

I have done Marleshwar ages back and need to plan a revisit. Its heavenly in monsoon!

Good to see Sanjay back on the roads and travelling. The pics are simply good, wall paper like. The only thing that was running in my mind when reading your travelogue was what material must have been used for building roads there which do not get abused by the traffic nor the weather. Is it the minimal traffic which is helping to keep the roads in such good conditions.

Anyways I suppose Sanjay had his extra dosage of oxygen for the monsoon. I can only dream of driving to such places.

For Amba ghat route I connect from Pawas to Lanja (which is south of Hathkhamba on NH17) and then climb up to Malkapur/Kolhapur/Karad through the Amba ghat.

I see. When I'd gone to Marleshwar, it was by taking the Pune - Malkapur - Amba Ghat - Marleshwar route. While coming from Pune - Amba, there's a right turn (almost a U-turn) a little distance before the ghat ends, which I was told to take by some locals as a short cut to Marleshwar.

Hope you don't mind me sharing a couple of pics from that trip for nostalgia's sake

Nothing can beat the beautiful green of hills in the monsoon. Great set of pics there with some crisp narration. If you could post some gmaps links, it would help those who are new to the ghats and roads of konkan